Routine for infants 3 mths & 16 mths

2 babies- Tenley 3 months & Michael 16 months. At this point both require individual attention and lots of it! I have come up with a routine that gets us through the day and keeps both babies clean, fed, napped, and happy :)If anyone comes across this blog, hope it helps!

6:45 am- Tenley and I up. Tenley immediate bottle while I drink my coffee. Follow with playtime.

8:00 am- Tenley back to bed. Shower, dressed, and breakfast for me. Free time until someone wakes up. Take out something for dinner.

9:30 am- Michael usually up around this time (do not let sleep past 10). Immediate cup of milk and breakfast.

10:00 am- Wake Tenley for bottle. Dress kids. Vacuum. Playtime/tv time, park, errands, etc...

11:30 am- Tenley nap. Michael gets small snack. (It's ok to still be out or go out. Baby will sleep in carseat and snacks are portable). On Monday & Wednesday this is when we do crafts.

1:00 pm- Michael lunch & juice/water.

1:30 pm- Wake Tenley for bottle.

2:00 pm- Michael nap.

2:30 pm- Tenley nap. Lunch for me while both are napping. I may nap or straighten house.

4:00 pm- Michael up and give small snack & milk (fill with water after for extra fluids).

4:30 pm- Dad's home= playtime with dad!

5:00 pm- Wake Tenley for bottle. If up earlier try and hold out until 5 for bottle. Start getting dinner ready accordingly for 6:30 dinner.

6:00 pm- Try and get Tenley to nap.

6:30 pm- Dinner.

7:00 pm- Baths.

7:30 pm- Michael gets cup of milk and stories. Other parent clean kitchen if tenley is sitting quiet.

8:00 pm- Michael bed. Tenley bottle. Bed for the night for her once she is tired. Mike and I both straighten house up. TV time for us then bed whenever (usually 10)!

***This is more of a routine than a schedule. We know babies do not always sleep as long as we'd like or eat when we want them to. As long as you are a bit flexible, things shall go smoothly.

Ketchup peeas ma

Hahah I used this title bc little man will barely eat anything...unless he is allowed to dip in ketchup. He's so funny. A friend of mine was over the other night and actually said "I love how Michael makes you laugh. I always catch you just laughing and smiling at him. He seems to make you very happy". That made me feel good because most of the time I feel as if he is rattling my brains!

Anyhoooo, has it really been almost 2 months since my last post? Jeeze- time is aflying. Our sweet girl is 3 months now and FINALLY sleeping for us. Thank you Jesus!! For awhile it seemed as if I was living in hourly increments as opposed to full days. She smiles all day, very observant, and loves to converse (coo's)!

I have come up with our schedule for 2 babies! Wooo and it has been successful all week! I will post in a blog all it's own :)

Another Chapter

I'm back!!

AND.....

Baby Tenley is finally here!! She was born 8/13/10 at 7 lbs 5 oz! She was the image of pure perfection. Michael adores her and seeing him gently touch her or cover her with blankies just melts my heart. I cannot wait to watch them grow to be best friends. Michael has tought us a lot over his short 14 months of life so far, so we were quite prepared for our new little one. Tenley is now 3 wks old and has given us only a few sleepless nights SO FAR! She is starting to lift her head and is already giving demands (feed me! hold me!).




I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fall and hope to enjoy every minute of it with my family. Here are some of my hopes & plans for the next few months....

Take Michael to find some colorful leaves and create some fall artwork
Visit Busch Gardens
Long evening walks
Halloween Costume Shopping
Trick or Treating
Pumpkin picking/carving
Hayrides
Food festival
Wear sweatshirts and walk the beach
Find Michael an activity (little gym
Set up some mums outside
Color my hair darker!
Find local events going on that will be Autumn related
Bark in the Park day for Dixie
Get the babies on the same bedtime schedule
Start planning Tenley's baptism
Spend the nights relaxing and watching our fav shows with Hubby <3

Making the cut!

The dreaded time has finally arrived (one of many!) to drop the morning nap. Michael has been on the same exact schedule for the past 8 months, which included a 2 hr morning nap and a 1 hr afternoon nap. And boy, did I need these breaks as well. The past 2 weeks have consisted of us fighting with him to go to sleep in the morning. He would throw EVERYTHING out of the crib and scream and it was quite apparent that the nap wasn't happening. So I did some research and it occurred to me that in his Toddler years (already!!) he will only be needing one nap a day. Apparently, it's not going to be easy. Over the years, I have become a creature of needing stability and routine. Now he is throwing me off! Ahhh! So here is what I have come up with. If anyone else finds themselves in the same situation, maybe this will help....

***This is a trial run so I'll edit in a few weeks. I'm PRAYING it goes as planned... Also, with the new baby due ANY DAY, I will not include my schedule because who the heck knows how that's going to turn out. I'll fill her in somewhere :)

8:00 Michael up. Gets sippy cup of milk.

8:30 Breakfast.

9:00 Get dressed. Playtime (preferably outside-park, pool, walks....). Also, use these hours for errands, shopping, etc. Offer sippy cup of water.

11:30 Lunch

12:00 Nap. Allow to sleep as long as he can.

Late afternoon- Once awake, sippy cup of milk & snack. Playtime/TV time.

6:00 Dinner.

7:00 Bath.

7:30 Sippy cup of milk. Quiet play (books, blocks...). No cartoons.

8:15/8:30 Bedtime.

Hello, baby, where are you?

Little Ladybug,

Mama can't walk or carry your big brother. We are tired of waiting and want to meet you! Your gorgeous clothes are ready to be worn and your cradle is warm and cozy. Michael wants to play and so does mommy ;) I want you take your sweet time growing up for the rest of your life, but for now, get your little but moving! We are a happy family and I know you'll just love us :)

15 days to go but we are all too anxious!

PS- I just bought you a $30 onsie and daddy doesn't know- hehe.

Our 4th Happenings..

I almost forgot I have a blog! Not that anyone reads it anyway :p

I had a wonderful 4th of July weekend with my boys. God, they are so precious to me. There is nothing like sitting back and watching the 2 people you love most smile and laugh. I'm so pooped that I'm not going to write much. Our weekend was spent at the beach, Busch Gardens, and the maaaaaallll :) Lot's of grilling & yummy food- again a :) Best of all, hubs had off today! It's always nice when he has Monday's off because it's an extra day and shortens the week.

PS- 40 days till D-Day!!!!! Let's go baby girl!

Summer Routine Take One (1 baby!)

This is Mr. Handsome & I's summer schedule until the sweetpea arrives :)

7:30- Wake-up. Milk (coffee for me!) and TV/play time.

8:00- Breakfast for both- I almost never get this important meal! Feed dog. I get dressed/ready quickly while baby eats.

8:30 Dress little man & brush teeth. (dress myself now too if I didn't yet!)

9:00- Outside play or "circle time" (inside if raining). Tues & Thurs we have story time from 9:30-10

10ish- NAPTIME :) I complete daily chores according to the day.Straighten toys. Eat if I haven't yet. Take out something to defrost for dinner. I also use this time to shower some days.

Afternoon- Baby sleeps as long as he wants. Milk & lunch at wake-up. Vacuum. Use this time to get out and run errands. Inside play.

2:45- Snack & juice for baby followed by nap no later than 3:30 (usually 3). Make hubby's lunch for next day. REST! (haha right)

4:30- Baby MUST be up! Offer juice. Play w/dad.

5:30- Start making dinner.

6:00- Eat dinner. Relax. Baby outside play.

7:15- Baby bath & brush teeth. Whichever parent isn't bathing, cleans up dinner.

7:45- Quiet play (READING, blocks, etc)

8:00- Baby bed. Dad's homework/workout time. I shower if I still haven't been able to. Rest & watch tv.

We all know that babies don't always follow "plans". Lol, so this is really just a guidline. It usually works very well. And when things come up, it's ok for us to jump off schedule a bit. I hope maybe this helps other SAHM's :)

Pheww!

These have been some very busy past few months. With planning a baby shower, moving our entire home, 2 vacations, planning an out of state birthday party, my father's wedding, finding new dr's, all the while taking care of my little one (2 to be technical)- I can finally say it's over!! I must get a Thank You card for my mom and stepdad because they devoted lots of time to help.

***Deeep breath***

Baby shower cake

Wedding

Birthday Party

Time to relax this summer and enjoy these last precious moments with my son as an only child. Our new baby girl will be here by the end of summer and I'm glad all the major events are donesky (dunsky?).

I have been thinking lately that our little lady will make an early appearance, but who knows. So within the next week I plan to "nest" a bit. I know I just said I was going to relax, but this is the fun part! Pack my hospital bag, register at the hospital, get the bassinet ready in our room, get the breast pump out and ready, and purchase some last minute baby neccessities.

Also, I have completed our summer schedule! Yayyyyy- I will post this in it's own blog.

The No Good Day

Time: 10:40 am. Sleep last night: close to none. I was just tossing and turning, yuck. But finally I fell asleep and.....

At about 3 am Michael woke up screaming. Dad ran in to check on him and he has wet thru is diaper. Has not happened yet, but I guess was bound to sooner or later.

Back to tossing and turning. Mike wakes up at 5:30- so awaken again I am, but what can I do about that one? Fell right asleep for what seemed like 5 minutes, now it is 6:20 and I hear on the moniter "doobeedadadeee" (baby babble). Into his room to pop in the bink and cover him back up...

7:15- CRASH, BOOM! Nooooooooooooooo, thunder. Followed by squeals and barks from my dog who turns into a maniac at the smallest sound of thunder. Oh yes, then wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, baby is up.

7:30 Backyard is completely flooded-no dog out back to go to the bathroom. Let me get my coffee and get dresses, I'll take her out when the rain settles. Oh wait, what's that smell? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Poop & pee all over the carpet. Michael is crying to eat breakfast. UGHHH why me?

8-9 am. Sure Michael rip pages out of your books. Sure Michael smash crumbs into the carpet. Oh go ahead, pull out the trash from the trashcan (which has a lid, he is just growing like a weed). Of course you can pull out the dirt from the pot of the new indoor tree we bought. OH and you can definitly sneak in the kitchen and put shoes, sunglasses, keys, and other things you find into the the dogs water bowl.

9:02 exactly. NAPTIME. THANK YOU GOD. I put Michael down and there is no chance in hell I will skip this oppurtunity to sleep. I actually went into my bedroom for this one. Except I put Ellen on and she stole about 20 mins from this glorious time.

10:15- again "dooobeeedagagagaag". :(

Downstairs. Please Moose A Moose entertain for 20 mins.

Nope, he found a cup of milk that was left on the table, which he can now reach, and dumped it on the carpet for Dixie to enjoy. Thanks Michael. (by the way this milk incident happened while I was writing this blog. My fault I guess.)

God, please give me the strength to make it thru this day. Rainy day at that.

Leaving tonight for NJ for a super busy, errand filled weekend. Weddings, bday parties, fathers day.......

HAHAHA did I mention HA?

So our family has begun the pre-early-beginning stages of becoming homeowners. We have been taking long drives thru the country browsing the styles of homes we like and areas. Apparently, we are looking in the wrong places. And apparantly, Mike and I both like 5 bedroom homes with giant yards and lots of windows and porches and enormous kitchens. We found a house on the smaller side (in comparison to the others in the neighborhood), and the price made us both laugh out loud. The homeowner happened to be outside and said it was the cheapest in the neighborhood, lots of kids, good schools, upgrades, yadda, yadda..... I might as well go ahead and say it- they are firm on the $370,000 selling price. Here comes the HAHAHA. The prices on other homes where we grabbed flyers were no less humerous.

Not the kind of price we are looking to spend on our first home. So, for now we will keep browsing just for fun. We want to get some debt paid off and apply for a mortgage by early fall. I pray it all works out for us!

We are not asking for much- I really want a ranch stye house, just one floor with a loft or small bedrooms upstairs. I MUST HAVE lots of windows because I love natural sunlight. Mike just wants a fireplace and garage. Simple huh?

Here is our dream home and I hope it's realistic for us:

Suds

They say the sound of rice krispies popping is the sound of childhood. Well, I couldn't help but laugh last night while laying in the tub thinking of this. Amazingly, all was silent in the house. I brought my book up to read in a warm bubblebath. However, as I sat in the silence, I was entranced by the sound of the popping suds - they sounded just like that crazy cereal! I could not even waste the moment reading. I closed my eyes and was almost in a mediated state. I then thought, this sound should be the slogan for me, or all mothers..."Suds, enjoy the moment, motherhood is NOT calling". hehe. Don't get too excited for me- 5 minutes later, baby was crying.

I pride myself in the fact that my son rarely EVER wakes up at night (only when his own man crib of course). Go figure...

Those ever so glorious suds then turned to sopping, sudsy water all over the floor. But it was worth those 5 minutes of quiet.

Routine, routine, routine!

I have heard it from so many mothers and it is the best advice ever! My little boy is most pleasant when his days go exactly as he expects. He is so used to our routine that the littlest changes throw him off. I must add, however, the days of teething are adding a bit of agitation to us all.. With summer just starting off and Mike on a new work schedule, we don't quite have a summer routine down just yet. I will have it completed by the end of the week :) Hopefully.

Our first swim lesson went great! Michael loved it and he is in a class with all girls! Lucky man- hehe. And to top it off- a 2 hour nap! Woooooohoooo!

For now, I will let you know that we STILL have the same exact bedtime routine that he has been on since he was 4 WEEKS!

6:00 dinner.
6:45 bath followed w/night time lotion
7:15 bottle & story.
7:30 bed.

Works like a charm & we get 7:30- 7:30. Thank you God!

Dinner tonight- grilled tilapia, grilled cream corn, and green beans= YUMMMO!

Back to business

Well we have finally settled into our new home here in Virginia. Although settled might not be the correct word- there are still things floating around that have no place yet. Mike returned to work today after having a whole month off! It was nice, but I was ready for him to go back and get back into our routine. Being his first day back to work and it is a new place, I'm quickly going to jot down a few annoyances here- then maybe I won't have to complain when he gets home.

Ok really quick- My dog will NOT go to the bathroom in our backyard. She usually goes out and "goes" first thing, but hasn't gone yet and it is noon! The yard isn't fully fenced so we must take her out on a leash and the bugs attack me! ughh I have gone through this 4 times today...

Michael has this really annoying high pitched shriek randomly. I don't know where it came from but it ripples through my bones.

I'm annoyed at myself because I'm really bored but I don't want to do annnnnything.

The dryer in this house sucks. Really really bad. It gets super hot, yet it takes 2 hours to dry the clothes? I don't know if I should tell the landlord or suck it up. Oh yea that reminds me that I hate renting. I can't wait to buy our dream home!

I took ground beef out for dinner for tacos. I do not like tacos, but Mike loves them. Thought I'd treat him...but now I screwed myself. lol

Sooooo I guess it't not all so bad. I must laugh at myself now. Back to blogging....

I have not been on here in quite awhile. Sometimes I think about it but I feel like I have nothing to say. Anyway, it have been an eventful month. We now have a walking man! We went on two vacations this month- Hilton Head, SC and camping in Cape May, NJ. Our little man is quite the beach lover!

We are going to the Y tonight to get memberships. Michael will be starting his swim lessons tomorrow! I know he will love it and the result when we get home will be a nice long nap for all of us :)

Pregnancy update- 28 weeks along! Miss Tenley is moving around so much and is causing mama much discomfort. C-section should be scheduled in the next few weeks for the week of Aug 14. All is well and we can't wait to meet Michael's little sister!

I'm going to be starting our (me and Michael's) new schedule this week once I get all activites set up. I'll keep you posted!

Weekend's almost here!

Although I no longer work, Friday's still give me that giddy feeling. My husband usually gets home by 1, and all day I anticipate it. I love his company, although these days I may not seem like it so much (pregnancy annoyances I guess...). But I'm working on that and trying really hard. Really, really hard.
My little Michael man will be up any minute for the day. He has woken up 2x since I have been up, but he lays in bed until the sun is fully up, thank God. I need to figure out some fun activity to do with him today because all that's on the agenda so far is food shopping. We are supposed to be taking Michael to his fist baseball game on Sunday, and it's supposed to be in the 50's and possible rain! Ughhh.
So, here's the plan- until I am a better blogger, they are going to be pretty random. Here are some thoughts that have been floating around in my head for awhile.

It kinda makes me pretty sad that our babies won't remember these days. We have a beautiful home and lots of fun with him, but he will never know. Once we move, Mike and I will only remember the first home we brought our first baby home to.

I wish my husband's job would get on the ball. We are supposed to be moving "any time now", but have no exact date. I have my heart set on a certain place and it is most likely going to get rented before we can get it.

How do dogs sleep all day? Do they enjoy it? Because mine sure does.

My husband and I are horrible with money. We are really working on it and even started a budget this last pay check. I hope we can do it because I really want a successful life especially now that children are in the mix.

My daughter is due this August, and that will put Michael at 13 months old. Does anyone have any ideas on managing/scheduling these ages? All I do is chase him around at this point and sometimes cannot even find the time to eat! I plan on nursing again, and am starting to get pretty scared.

I love my life and am thankful for everything. My husband would give me the world if he could, and puts up with alot of my crap. And I have the MOST BEAUTIFUL (no really, he is gorgeous) son. What else is there? Well I'm watching the so called "Real Housewives" and am thinking must be nice. haha

CAN WE ALL PRAY FOR A LITTLE SUNSHINE THIS WEEKEND? Thanks :)

I am so over this college stuff it's not even funny. I'm not really even sure what I'm there for. Other than it's being paid for by the military and I guess I'll eventually have to go back to work. But....this is what I arrive home to after each evening class. Almost worth it!

Doesn't this turn your heart to mush as well?? Oh how I love him.

Wednesday 9:51 am

I have been up since 6:45 on my new schedule! Woo, I just started it yesterday so I hope it falls into place. Michael was up at 7 and went down for his nap at 9:30, and I am so thankful there was no fight! I was going to lay down for a nap, but was restless. I thought some meditation would help, so I googled it. Random, I know. Then I went to favorite bloggers site to see if there was anything new. And I began to think, Hey, maybe I should try this to relieve some stress/thoughts/hopes/etc. So now here I sit, wondering what to write next. So here are 20 random facts about me.

1. I have been with my husband since I was 16.
2. My son is the most precious thing in the world to me.
3. I am exactly 21 weeks and 4 days pregnant with my first daughter (Tenley Marie, due Aug 21, 2010)!
4. I have been to California and thought it was the most amazing place (northern, Napa Valley area)
5. My husband and I were married Jan 24, 2009 in Jamaica.
6. The sound of someone chewing gum really bothers me.
7. I love meeting new people.
8. I like country music and southern rock, actually anything but rap.
9. Although I don't like rap, I have a sweet spot for Little Wayne. ? don't ask.
10. I have the weirdest dreams about torandoes almost weekly.
11. I despise, and am terrified of ET. He just sceeves me.
12. My parents divorced when I was 18. Never saw it coming.
13. I could watch the movie Summer Catch over and over again.
14. I love seafood.
15. I am terrified of the ocean, although I love to look at it.
16. I am a Coastie wife :)
17. I am currently on a being frugal spree. Washing out sandwich bags, coupons...hubby thinks I am nuts.
18. I cry when I look at my son sleeping. It just melts my heart. Even now I teared up.
19. I LOVE to cook for people.
20. I truly believe in soul mates. Mike has grown up with me in so many ways.

So now back to my daily routine. Food shopping and budget envelope stuffing. That was fun!